This invention relates to a machine for forming large cylindrical bales of crop material, commonly called round bales, in a roll forming region above the ground. More specifically, it is concerned with apparatus which will permit a bale, once it is discharged onto the ground from the bale forming region, to be propelled sufficiently rearwardly of the machine to permit the tailgate to clear the discharged bale when the tailgate is closed.
Historically, it has been the custom to harvest forage crops by mowing the particular crop, letting it dry in the field, forming the dried crop material into windrows and passing a hay-baling machine over and along these windrows to form the crop material into rectangular bales. Recent practice has shown that the formation of crop material into large compact rolls, rather than rectangular bales as formerly done, permits the crop material to be deposited in roll form and left in fields for extended periods of time. The ability to leave these rolled bales in fields obviates the additional steps required in the traditional rectangular baling process of gathering the bales and transporting them to a storage area protected from the elements. This new technique of forming large round bales has created a baling system that can be conducted by one person. This is in marked contrast to the traditional practice of forming rectangular bales where the labor of several people was required to effect the cutting, drying, windrowing, baling, gathering and storing of the crop material.
Several methods of forming compact cylindrical rolls of crop material have evolved through the years. The most successful of these methods involves the forming of crop rolls by picking up a swath or windrow of material from the field and directing it onto a lower conveyor. This conveyor transports the material to a bale forming region where an upper apron or flight of belts, usually positioned above and adjacent the conveyor, moves in a suitable direction to rotate the crop material with which it is brought into contact. The increasing popularity of these crop roll forming machines has seen their use broaden from rolling wintering forage for livestock to rolling high protein crops, such as alfalfa, for dairy livestock. Therefore, these machines are the focal point of many ideas for developing both labor-saving and time-saving apparatus.
Crop roll forming machines that produce large cylindrical crop rolls utilize some form of a tailgate which is pivotally mounted to the frame of the machine. The tailgate is elevated upon completion of the crop roll or when it is desired to discharge a less than full size bale for any of a variety of reasons from the bale forming region. The tailgate follows a predetermined arc of travel, generally pivoting about a fixed point on the frame.
Prior crop roll forming machines generally discharge the completed crop material package from the bale forming region either by pivoting the tailgate rearwardly and upwardly, thereby permitting the bale to drop directly onto the ground, or by first elevating the tailgate and then activating the conveyor or lower apron which forms the lower limit of the bale forming region and upon which crop material is deposited by the pickup during the bale forming process. In the latter case, the bale is urged rearwardly out of the machine and onto the ground. Since these large cylindrical compact bales can vary in weight from as much as 850 to 1500 pounds or more, quite frequently in the machines of the latter type a bale receives a rearward urging that is sufficient merely to eject it from the floor of the bale forming region, but not sufficient to move it beyond the arc followed by the tailgate when it travels from its opened or raised position to its closed or shut position. This means that for both techniques of discharging a completed bale the discharged bale will interfere with the tailgate as it is closed prior to the machine's continuing across the field and initiating the rolling of an additional bale. This interference can have consequences that range from preventing the tailgate from closing to damaging the complete bale or causing costly structural damage to the machine itself.
Several choices are available to the operator of previous roll forming machines when closing the tailgate to avoid having the tailgate strike a bale which has been discharged insufficiently rearwardly. The machine can be moved forward over a portion of the preformed windrow of crop material to permit the tailgate to be closed after a bale is ejected. If the operator at that point desires to continue with the roll forming process, however, there will be a portion of the windrow that has been passed over and not picked up by the roll forming machine for inclusion in the crop roll. If the operator desires to include the passed over portion of the windrow, it is necessary to backup the roll forming machine and then begin the roll forming operation by moving forward again. A second approach is taken by operators who backup their machine prior to discharging the bale and pull forward again before closing the tailgate. Both approaches result in needless duplication of effort and waste of time every time a bale is ejected with insufficient force to carry it clear of the predetermined arc of travel of the tailgate. Alternately, if the operator attempts to start the pickup of crop material from the field for a new bale by discharging the bale at the point it is fully formed and then moving the machine forward while the tailgate is being lowered from the raised position to the closed position, crop material will be run through the bale forming region and out the back before the tailgate is closed. This will again present the problem of crop material being left on the field and not being included in the crop roll.
The foregoing problems are solved in the design of the machine comprising the present invention by providing means to discharge the completed crop roll sufficiently rearwardly of the roll forming machine each time a bale is discharged onto the ground to permit the tailgate to be closed and still clear of the discharged bale.